Gotterup Leads Met Am As Play Suspended
EDISON, N.J. (July 29, 2021) – Play was suspended more than halfway through round two of stroke play qualifying for the 119th Met Amateur Championship due to inclement weather. Chris Gotterup of Rumson finished his two rounds in 13-under, two shots off the 36-hole record for the Met Amateur set by Stewart Hagestad in 2015. Gotterup fired the lowest Met Amateur round at Plainfield Country Club, in the club’s sixth time hosting the event. His first round 64 was four strokes better than the next best score from the morning.
“This place feels like home to me,” said Gotterup. “I’ve probably played here close to 100 times and played well a bunch. You know it almost didn’t feel like a tournament today I was just very comfortable.”
Gotterup’s familiarity with Plainfield stems from his proximity to the course when he played at Rutgers. Though his distance is always a factor, it was strong iron play that led Gotterup to the near-record score.
“I don’t think I missed a green all day,” said Gotterup. “The key here is to be aggressive in the right spots because there are some places that can bite you.”
Gotterup is officially the clubhouse leader and looks primed to claim the first seed when match play resumes Friday morning. Though he has won the event before, Gotterup was also the first seed in 2018 at Arcola and fell in the round of 16. Focusing on tomorrow is the key to success according to Gotterup.
“Today doesn’t matter, even as well as I played,” said Gotterup. “I have to forget about that and just go out and beat the guy I’m playing. If they beat me, that happens. I just can’t make mistakes and beat myself.”
Outside of Gotterup, Max Buckley of Westchester Country Club and Brad Tilley of Sleepy Hollow stand as the lowest scores in the clubhouse at 2-under. Tilley was 4-over after his first nine holes but finished 6-under over his last 27 to make the push well inside the cut line.
The cut sits at even par, with exactly 16 players at that number or better at the time of suspension. The top 16 players will advance to match play, which will commence shortly after round two of stroke play finishes tomorrow morning.
Johnny Bush of Plainfield and William O’Neill of Spring Brook both sit in second place at 6-under. Each player has several holes remaining in their second round.
Play will resume at 7:30 am tomorrow morning.